The OSI Model

Lessons
1. Introduction to the OSI Model
2. The Physical Layer
3. The Data Link Layer
4. The Network Layer
5. The Transport Layer
6. The Session Layer
7. The Presentation Layer
8. The Application Layer
Lesson 1 - Introduction to the OSI
Model
The first networking protocols were developed by computer manufacturers.
Each manufacturer developed its own protocols for its own platforms. IBM,
for example, had more than a dozen protocols back in 1960s.

However, computers and programs must use a common protocol to

communicate. If many different protocols for data communication exist, it is
difficult to link computers into common networks.

Thus, to correct the chaos of multiple protocols, computer vendors developed

communication standards, both official and de facto. One of the most
important of these is the OSI Model.

The OSI model is not a protocol, but a reference model, or an abstract

structure that describes the functions and interactions of various data
communication protocols. It provides a conceptual structure that helps us
discuss and compare network functions, just as other classification systems
help biologist or chemist talk about their fields.
As a networking professional, there are two good reasons
you must have a solid understanding of the OSI model:

● The OSI model is widely used in a networking

literature. Data communication texts structure their
presentations by the OSI model.
● Many software and hardware vendors use OSI model as
a guide for the development and documentation of
products. When you understand the OSI model, you can
quickly learn many different types of networking
protocols, products, and services.

Thus, the OSI model provides a logical structure to the

rest of this course.
The OSI Open Standard
The OSI model was created by the International Standards Organization (ISO).
ISO is composed of members from national standards organizations of many
countries, including the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the
principal nongovernment U.S standard organization. The standard was
intended to allow the interconnection of networks without regard to the
underlying hardware, as long as the communication software used adheres to
the standard. In other words, the OSI model defines a neutral set of rules
for data communication. Products that follow those rules can usually work
together, even if they are made by different manufacturers.

The OSI model is an open standard. The term “open” means the standard’s
specifications are publicly available. Compliance with the standard is also
voluntary; new products are not required to adhere to the standard.
However, many manufacturers have found that standard-based products are
more competitive. Customers want the flexibility of hardware and software
that is “interoperable” with other manufacturers’ products, and do not want
to be locked into a single vendor’s proprietary solutions.
The OSI Stack
The OSI reference model describes a theoretical protocol stack. The model
consists of seven layers of services and protocols, from concrete Physical
Layer, which contains protocols that transmit bits over physical media, to the
abstract Application Layer, where programs such as electronic mail (e-mail)
reside.
The OSI model, consists of seven layers, falls logically into
two parts. Layers 1 through 4, the “lower” layers, are
connected with transmitting raw data between
computers. Layer 5 through 7, the “higher” layers, are
concerned with communication between applications.

Each layer of the OSI model describes the services that a

protocol provides, but it does not specify exactly how a
protocol must do that.
Lesson 2 - The Physical Layer
Physical Layer (Layer 1) is the lowest layer of
the OSI model, it does not use the services of
any other layer. However, it provides Layer 2
the service of transmitting signal, across a
physical communication medium, represent by
binary bits.

Keypoint : The Physical Layer deals with

transmitting and receiving bits across a
physical medium.
Hardware Devices
Physical medium can be a copper cable
(coaxial or twisted pair), fiber optic cable, or
radio channel. Thus, the Physical Layer
includes the following types of hardware
devices that send and receive signals over
each type of physical medium:
●Network interface cards (NICs)
●Fiber optic transceivers
●Radio transceivers
●Modems
 A Stream of Bits
Physical Layer process are concerned only with transmitting and
receiving physical signals that represent data bits. They do this
without any knowledge of the meaning or structure of the data itself,
just as a conveyor belt has no understanding of the package it
carries.
A Physical Layer process is only aware of the transmission medium
itself, and is not aware of any communicating device that may be
sending or receiving transmission over that medium.
Thus, when a Layer 1 process receives a signal, it is only aware that it
is coming from a cable or radio channel. If the process is sending a
signal, it is only aware that it is placing the signal onto the wire, or
modulating a radio wave. It is not aware that any other device at the
other end of that physical connection is either the source or
destination of a signal.
Physical Layer process use different transmission protocols,
depending on the nature of the physical communication link (copper,
fibre, or radio). Physical transmission protocols are concerned with
issues such as:
● How bits (1s and 0s) are represented. For example, a bit may be a
flash of light over a fiber optic cable, high voltage on a copper
cable, or change of frequency or amplitude on a radio channel.
● How to tell when each bit, or whole transmission, starts and
ends. Synchronous protocols use coordinated clocks to detect the
start and end of a message. Asynchronous protocols use special
signals to mark each message.
● Whether bits can flow in one direction only or in both direction
simultaneously.
Minimal Error Detection
A data can be defined as an incorrect pattern
of bits. However, Physical Layer processes are
only aware of individual bit signals, they
cannot detect errors in data transmission.

Some Physical Layer processes can detect

basic faults, such as an open connection, and
alert higher layers to the problem. However,
most error detection, and all error correction,
are the responsibility of higher layers.
Example Physical Layer Protocols
●CSMA/CD - Carrier Sense Multiple Access /
Collision Detect
●CSMA/CA - Carrier Sense Multiple / Collision
Avoid
●FDMA - Frequency Division Multiple Access
●CDMA - Code Division Multiple Access
Lesson 3 - The Data Link Layer
The Data Link is the second layer in the OSI
reference model. It uses the signaling services
of the Physical Layer below it. To Layer 3
above, it provides the service of addressing a
message to a device located across a single
physical transmission path. The physical path
that connects two nodes is called a “link”.

Key Point: The Data Link Layer deals with frames over a
single physical link. A Data Link Layer address is the
unique address built into a NIC.
Frames Across a Link
While the Physical Layer streams bits one at a
time onto a link, the Data Link Layer
addresses groups of bits to a particular node
that is attached somewhere on that physical
link. Each group of bits the Data Link Layer
transmits is called a “frame”. Frames are
typically generated by the NIC of the sending
computer.
Packets Within Frames
The Network Layer handles data in units called
“packets”. Thus, the Network Layer passes a packet
to the Data Link Layer, which encapsulates the
packet by placing a header and trailer around it, just
as we encapsulate a letter within an envelope.

The encapsulated data (header, packet, trailer)

forms the frame. As it encapsulates the packet
passed down from Network Layer, the Data Link Layer
is not aware of the meaning of that data.
Frame Addressing
The frame header includes the unique NIC address of the sending and
receiving nodes. Thus, each frame is addressed to an individual
computing machine. The frame trailer contains error-checking
information that allows the receiving Data Link Layer process to
determine whether the frame has been damaged during transit.

The Data Link Layer passes each frame down to the Physical Layer for
transmission across the link as a stream of bits. The receiving Data
Link Layer process receives the bit stream from the Physical Layer
and determines where each frame begins and ends. It then removes
the frame header and trailer, then passes the packet up to the
Network Layer.
Data Link Layer Services
The Data Link Layer provides the following services to the Network
Layer:
On the Transmitting Node -
● Accept data packets of arbitrary length from the Network Layer.
● Accept the address of an adjacent node to which it is to transmit
the data. An adjacent node is one connected to the sending node
by a Physical Link.
● Controls access to a shared Physical Layer medium, such as a
broadcast network.
● Adds sequence information to the frames. If they get out of
sequence during error recovery, they can be put back into the
right sequence by the receiving peer process.
● Adds error detection and correction codes to the frames so
the receiving peer process can tell when an error has
occured. (Remember that the Physical Layer cannot detect
errors.)
● Adds handshaking information to the data frames so it can
cooperate with the peer process to correct problems, such
as a frame that is completely lost.
● Handshakes with its peer to ensure that the complete
packet is received correctly.
● Uses the services of the Physical Layer to transmit frames.
● During transmission, does not send frames to the Physical
Layer at a faster rate than the receiving Data Link Layer
process can handle them.

Keypoint : Handshakes - An exchange of signals and data that

prepares two device to communicate with each other.
Data Link Layer Services
The Data Link Layer provides the following services to the Network
Layer:
On the Receiving Node -
● Receives bits passed up from the Physical Layer and interprets
groups of bits as frames.
● Checks each frame for errors. if errors are found, it takes
corrective measures, such as requesting a retransmission from
the transmitting peer process.
● Handles problems, such as missing frames, through handshaking
with its peer process.
● Puts the frames back in the correct sequence to reconstruct the
packet.
● Passes each decapsulated packet up to the Network Layer.
The Data Link Layer and Physical Layer Diagram shows
how the Data Link Layer passes frames to the Physical
Layer, which transports the frames as a stream of bits.
Error Detection and Correction: FCS
All protocols, except the Physical layer, add header
information to the data they transmit. However, the Data
Link Layer also adds a trailer. The trailer typically
contains a data field, called the Frame Check Sequence
(FCS), that is used by the receiving Data Link Layer
process to determine whether each frame has been
transmitted without errors.
The FCS can only detect the most basic types of errors,
such as a bit that has changed from 1 to a 0. Thus, the
Data Link Layer does not have complete responsibility for
error detection. Other types of error correction can occur
in higher layers.
Data Link Layer Protocols
There are many different Data Link Layer
protocols. Some of the most common are:
●High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC), an ISO
standard.
●LAN protocols, such as Ethernet, Token
Ring, and Fiber Distributed Data Interface
(FDDI).
●Wide area network (WAN) protocols, such
as frame relay and ISDN.
-- Note